How important are GCSEs? 2nd Attempt :S

[1halfsingh]

I'm sure u can guess where my vote is going to go lol

[FurbtasticM]

I can't pick any of the poll answers.

For certain career paths, they may well be essential. However, there are plenty of less academic, hands on people out there, or those who didn't make the effort at the time*, who have done just as well for themselves.

Personally, it has to be worth pushing yourself to get the best grades possible. At least then you have the options open either way.



*that is me!

[-null-]

I think it depends how long you want it to take you to get into your chosen career and what that is.

Not sure what it's like in England/Wales but here in Scotland when I went to college and then uni there was a lot of adult students. Most of their qualifications were out of date but or non existent but they still got their degrees they just had to work a little longer.

[ainsleee]

Personally, they are over rated. However they build the foundations to college and uni learning, after all would you want to go to uni with no education?

[Jono310]

even for a shelf stacking job, if you are up agaist someone with GCSEs and you dont have any, then they will get the job.

If i were an employer i would want to see some sort of dedication to achiving a qualification.

also, for my PGCE they want to see my original GCSE certificates...stupid, but they need to see them!

[the_icks]

ooooh PGCE get you!!!

When I met Wendy I was studying towards a post graduate diploma in inclusive education but life takes us in different directions!!

i want to go back ito adult education but apparantly I have to pay to get the qulaification I need!!

Level 5 Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector - DTLLS

(is the one that my experience wont let me get away with!!)

and all this for a basic rate taxed job!!

[Douf]

Depends what you wanna do if u wanna be a bin man they aint important if u wanna be like an owner or a manager of somthing yes there very important but theses days every gcse counts

[Schism]

Originally Posted by Jono310

even for a shelf stacking job, if you are up agaist someone with GCSEs and you dont have any, then they will get the job.

If i were an employer i would want to see some sort of dedication to achiving a qualification.

also, for my PGCE they want to see my original GCSE certificates...stupid, but they need to see them!

Most people don't even ask for grades

[josh.west]

basically you only need a C in English and maths and that's it'll you'll never see or hear about them again. If you go to college then the teachers start rantin on about A levels and how they're the most important thing in your life.

So yeah my point is that they are kind of important but its pretty pointless trying to get A's, you only need Cs.

I watched Peep Show instead of revising and im in college now and heading for uni so yeah...

[Praj07]

gcse's get more important the higher your aspirations go

i was at a graduate recruitment fair a couple of weeks ago and some of the top employers require you to get a 2.1 at uni, atleast 300 ucas points and atleast a B in maths or english or science depending on the job type

but like others have said, if you're just gonna be working in a supermarket or something then there i wouldn't worry too much

[1halfsingh]

Originally Posted by Douf

Depends what you wanna do if u wanna be a bin man they aint important if u wanna be like an owner or a manager of somthing yes there very important but theses days every gcse counts

The point I would like to make is that imo GCSEs are only important if you intend on NOT continuing into further education because they are all that you'll have. For anyone else who wants to progress to study at college/sixth form, GCSEs are simply a means of continuation. Most of the time you don't even need an A/A* to continue studying a subject at A-Level. Everyone bangs on about the 'domino effect', where if you get bad GCSE results, you won't get into a college or sixth form, and then you can't go to university and you will fail in life...it's really not like that. GCSEs aren't exactly the most difficult things to study for imo. I used my GCSEs to work out exactly what I was good at and enjoyed, because I would never study such a wide range of subjects ever again. The good thing about GCSEs is that they're spread over a long period of time, and so you have a lot of time to consider what you want to study at A-Level. But for the love of god DO NOT flunk maths or english.

I'm at uni now but I would still say that my A-Levels were the most important thing i've studied, probably more important than my degree for me, as it got me into a pretty reputable uni, which i'm gonna milk dry when it comes to applying for jobs. Luckily i'm at a pretty decent uni doing a pretty decent degree so my classification isn't as important as if I was studying at a crappy uni. For me a degree is a means to an end. My first and second years didn't contribute to my degree so I haven't been too worried, and really just made sure i passed all my exams (the elusive 40% pass mark), although i'm on a high 2.1/1 atm.

Uni is blatantly the best time of your life though. Nothing compares to the banter you get involved in. Man i miss living in halls

[bmh16]

Not that important in 99&% of all cases unless you want to be at the top of the tree in a very academically skilled job which has a hell of a lot of competition. People who say very important are most likely in Year 11 or before. I remember being naive at thinking GCSEs were the be all and end all haha.

[ChocolateP]

Well I've finished college and voted GCSE's being very important.
But like it has been said before i depends on the person and their ambitions.

[pdmac8]

It depends what you want to do?

If you want to go to college then you need whatever they ask for but if you want an entry level position at a company then they have hardly any relevance as many great entrepreneurs have started in the Post Room at companies

I personally believe further and higher education is a waste of time and you should start work as soon as possible, unless you want to be a Doctor, then a medical degree kind of helps !!!